WO2016120567A1

WO2016120567A1 - Device for detecting the loss of a ski

Info

Publication number: WO2016120567A1
Application number: PCT/FR2016/050183
Authority: WO
Inventors: Valentin Honore; Pierre-François TISSOT; Rémi Thomas
Original assignee: In&Motion
Priority date: 2015-01-28
Filing date: 2016-01-28
Publication date: 2016-08-04
Also published as: EP3250299B1; FR3031908A1; EP3250299A1; FR3031908B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (10) for detecting the loss of a ski (1), said ski (1) being equipped with a binding (2) that traps a shoe (3) such that it is securely connected to the ski (1). The device (10) is characterised in that it comprises a proximity sensor (11) that can detect whether or not the shoe (3) is close to the ski (1) and/or the binding (2), and emit an alarm signal when the shoe (3) is no longer close to the ski (1) and/or the binding (2), said proximity sensor (11) not including a mechanical connection between the shoe (3) and the ski (1) and/or its binding (2).

Description

DEVICE FOR DETECTING THE LOSS OF A SKI

Technical area

The present invention relates to the field of prevention of injuries related to skiing in general and more particularly to a device for detecting the loss of a ski by a skier. The invention also relates to an inflatable safety vest associated with said device for detecting the loss of a ski. Prior art

With the democratization of the practice of skiing and especially extreme skiing such as off-piste skiing or skiing during ski-cross competitions inspired by motocross, we have sought to develop systems intended to protect skiers during fall and more specifically the parts of their body most exposed such as, for example, the neck, thorax, spine, abdomen and hips.

Thus, we have developed so-called "passive" protections comprising semi-rigid reinforcements worn by the skier under his suit. These protections are certainly effective but have the major disadvantage of hindering the movements of the skier and thus limiting its performance.

In order to remedy this disadvantage, so-called "intelligent" protections have been developed. This type of protection is conventionally made of an inflatable safety vest very small footprint and able to be inflated very quickly by a gas, during the fall of the skier, to avoid the latter to violently hit the ground. The operation of this vest is similar to the operation of airbags installed in vehicles. One of the main problems encountered in developing these active protections is to detect the moment when the skier begins to fall and therefore the moment when the deployment of the inflatable safety vest must be activated.

To do this, we know electronic devices measuring in real time, using algorithms and sensors, the position and movement of the skier. However, these devices are complex and expensive to implement and implement due in particular to the severe conditions of use (high humidity, very low temperature and shock) and complexity related to the algorithm.

Presentation of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is therefore to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks and to present an alternative to the fall detection devices by proposing a device for detecting the loss of at least one ski generating the fall of a skier, said device being reliable, resistant, easy to perform and implement.

According to the first subject of the invention, a device for detecting the loss of a ski is therefore proposed, said ski being provided with a fastener enclosing a boot so as to make it integral with said ski, said detection device being remarkable in that it comprises a proximity sensor capable of detecting whether or not the shoe is close to the ski and / or its attachment and to emit an alert signal when the boot is no longer close to the ski and / or its fixing, said proximity sensor being without mechanical connection between the shoe and the ski and / or its attachment.

The proximity detector is preferably of the Hall effect type.

According to a preferred embodiment, the proximity detector comprises a magnet and a sensor disposed opposite said magnet and comprising an electronic card, a energy accumulator and communication means for transmitting the warning signal.

Said magnet and sensor are preferably respectively fixed on the heel of the binding of the ski and on the back of the shoe.

Advantageously, the magnet is fixed on the articulated upper part of the heel.

The communication means are of the wireless type and able to transmit radiocommunication signals.

The detection device preferably comprises a speed sensor associated with said proximity detector and able to measure the linear speed of the skier and therefore of the ski and to authorize the emission of the warning signal by the proximity detector only when said linear velocity reaches or exceeds a predetermined critical threshold.

The invention also relates to a safety inflation vest for protecting a skier equipped with at least one ski against a violent impact during a fall, said safety inflation vest comprising:

an inflatable envelope arranged to be worn by the skier and able to be inflated when the skier falls to protect the parts of his body most exposed,

a device for triggering the deployment of the inflatable envelope comprising means for rapidly generating gas for inflating, if necessary, said inflatable envelope,

an electronic card able, by communicating bilaterally with detection devices, to analyze the skier's movement, to measure its linear speed and to compare it to a critical threshold and to activate said triggering device when it receives a signal alert, and

an energy accumulator for supplying power to said triggering device and electronic card, said safety inflation vest being remarkable in that one of the detection devices is the device for detecting the loss of a ski according to the invention and in that, when the card receives an alert signal from said device for detecting the loss of a ski, it compares the linear speed of the ski with the critical and active threshold, when said linear speed reaches or exceeds said threshold, the device for triggering the deployment of the inflatable envelope of said vest.

The electronic card is advantageously paired with the two proximity sensors.

Brief description of the figures

Other advantages and features will become more apparent from the description which follows, of a particular embodiment, given by way of non-limiting example, of a device for detecting the loss of at least one ski conforming to the the invention, with reference to FIG. 1, which is a partial view of one side of a ski equipped with a fastener enclosing a ski boot, said ski-boot assembly being provided with a detection device according to FIG. invention.

Best way to achieve 1 '^' technical invention

FIG. 1 shows, on the one hand, a ski 1 provided with a fastener 2 formed by a front stop 21 and a heel piece 22, provided with an articulated upper part 23, trapping a shoe 3 so as to make it integral with said ski 1 and, on the other hand, a ski loss detection device 10 1.

Said detection device 10 comprises a proximity detector 11, advantageously of the binary type, able to detect whether the shoe 3, and preferably the back of shoe 3, is near or not to the ski 1 and / or its attachment 2 and to issue an alert when the shoe 3 is no longer near the ski 1 and / or its attachment 2.

In the present invention, the term "near" the fact that the shoe 3 is at a distance less than or equal to a few tens of millimeters of the ski 1 and / or its attachment 2.

It is well understood that the proximity detector 11, according to the invention, is of the type without mechanical connection between the shoe 3 and the ski 1 and / or its attachment 2 because this makes it possible to have a reliable, resistant detection device 10, easy to implement and implement, since with this configuration, the user will no longer have to make a particularly tedious mechanical connection between the shoe 3 and the ski 1 and / or its attachment 2 so that said detection device 10 works.

According to a preferred embodiment, the proximity detector 11 is of the Hall effect type and comprises a magnet 12 fixed on the heel piece 22 of the binding of the ski 2 and a sensor 13 fixed on the back of the shoe 4 facing the said magnet 12 and comprises the following constituent elements not shown in FIG. 1: an electronic card, an energy accumulator and communication means for transmitting the warning signal.

It is well understood that the proximity detector 11 may be of any other type such as, for example, capacitive, optical or infrared without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Advantageously, the communication means are of the wireless type and able to transmit radiocommunication signals.

The magnet 12 is advantageously fixed on the articulated upper part 23 of the heel piece 22. In fact, when a ski 1 is lost, the heel piece 22 opens by tilting its upper part 23 toward the rear of the heel piece 22. ski 1, the boot 3 disengages from said ski 1, and the magnet 12 is found "naturally" away from the sensor 13 fixed on the back of the shoe 4 and even before the shoe 3 is no longer in contact with the This configuration thus makes it possible to increase the reactivity of the proximity detector 11 and thus the safety. Conversely, this configuration also makes it possible to be sure that, when the proximity detector 11 detects that the boot 3 is close to the ski 1, the latter is well trapped between the front stop 21 and the heel 22 of the ski binding 2 1. Finally, with this advantageous configuration, the magnet 12 and the sensor 13 are fixed parts of the ski 1, its attachment 2 and the shoe 3 least exposed.

It goes without saying that the magnet 12 and the sensor 13 may be attached to other parts of the ski 1, its attachment 2 and the shoe 3 such as, for example, the sole of the shoe 3 and the top of the ski 1 between the front stop 21 and the heel 22 of the attachment 2, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the detection device 10 comprises a speed sensor, not shown in FIG. 1, associated with said proximity detector 11 and able to measure the linear speed of the skier and thus of the ski 1 and to not allow the transmission of the warning signal by the proximity detector 11 only when said linear speed reaches or exceeds a predetermined critical threshold.

For the sake of simplicity of design, the speed sensor is advantageously offset from the proximity detector 11, but may, without departing from the scope of the present invention, be integrated with said proximity detector 11.

It is understandable that it is important that the emission of an alert signal is conditioned by the fact that the speed ski linear 1 reaches or exceeds a predetermined threshold in order to avoid inadvertent emission of said warning signal, especially when the skier unhooks his skis at one stop.

The invention also relates to an inflatable safety vest associated with said device 10 for detecting the loss of a ski 1.

Thus, the safety inflation vest according to the invention comprises at least:

an inflatable envelope adapted to be worn by the skier and to be inflated, almost instantaneously (of the order of a few milliseconds), when the skier falls to protect the parts of his body most exposed to a violent shock against the ground,

an electronic card adapted, by communicating bilaterally with detection devices (including the device 10 for detecting the loss of a ski 1 previously described), analyzing the movement of the skier, measuring its linear speed, and comparing with a critical threshold and activating said triggering device when it receives an alert signal, and

an energy accumulator for supplying power to said triggering device and electronic card.

Furthermore, according to a preferred embodiment, the device 10 for detecting the loss of a ski 1 communicates via a wireless radio transmission with the high-frequency electronic card, more than a thousand times per second, and is therefore able, upon the loss of a ski 1, to inform said electronic card in less than four milliseconds.

Thus, when the detection device 10 of the loss of a ski 1 detects that the shoe 3 is no longer close to the ski 1 and / or its attachment 2, it sends an alert signal to the electronic card of the safety inflation vest which compares the linear speed of the ski 1 at critical and active threshold, if any, the device for triggering the deployment of the inflatable envelope of said vest.

Finally, it is understood that the electronic card is paired with the two proximity sensors 11 (one for each set shoe-ski) through a pairing procedure using means such as, for example, an alphanumeric code, a QR code and a cell phone or a computer. Thus, when donning a ski, a sound and light signal informs the skier of the good connection of the proximity sensor 11 with the electronic card, the two having been previously paired. In addition, if the skier has several pairs of shoes, he can pair several pairs of sensors. Similarly, if he has several pairs of ski, simply place a magnet on each attachment.

Possibility of industrial application

It is well understood that the device 10 for detecting the loss of a ski 1 according to the invention is preferably used on a pair of parallel skis. However, it is obvious that the detection device 10 according to the invention can be adapted and used on monoskis or surfs.

Finally, it goes without saying that the examples of cutting machine 1 and loss detection device 10 of a ski 1 according to the invention which have just been described are only particular illustrations, in no way limiting. of the invention.

Claims

1 - Device for detecting (10) the loss of a ski (1), said ski (1) being provided with a binding (2) trapping a shoe (3) so as to make it integral with said ski (1) , said detection device (10) being characterized in that it comprises a proximity detector (11) able to detect whether the shoe (3) is near or not to the ski (1) and / or its attachment (2). ) and to emit an alert signal when the shoe (3) is no longer in the vicinity of the ski (1) and / or its attachment (2), said proximity sensor (11) being without mechanical connection between the shoe (3) and the ski (1) and / or its attachment (2).

2 - displacement detection device (10) according to claim 1 characterized in that the proximity sensor (11) is of the Hall effect type.

3 - Detection device (10) displacement according to claim 2, characterized in that the proximity sensor (11) comprises a magnet (12) and a sensor (13) arranged vis-à-vis said magnet (12) and comprising an electronic card, an energy accumulator and communication means for transmitting the alert signal.

4 - displacement detection device (10) according to claim 3, characterized in that said magnet (12) and sensor (13) are respectively fixed on the heel (22) of the binding of the ski (2) and on the back of the shoe (3). 5 - Detection device (10) displacement according to claim 4 characterized in that the magnet (12) is preferably fixed on the upper part (23) articulated heel (22). 6 - Detection device (10) displacement according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the communication means are wireless type and able to transmit radiocommunication signals.

7 - Detection device (10) displacement according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises a speed sensor associated with said proximity detector (11) and able to measure the linear speed of the skier and therefore ski 1 and allow the emission of the warning signal by the proximity detector (11) only when said linear speed reaches or exceeds a predetermined critical threshold.

8 - Safety inflation vest for protecting a skier equipped with at least one ski (1) against a violent impact during a fall, said safety inflation vest comprising:

an energy accumulator for supplying energy to said triggering device and electronic card, said safety inflation vest being characterized in that one of the detection devices is the device for detecting (10) the loss of a ski (1) according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 7 and in that, when the card receives an alert signal from said detection device (10) of the loss of a ski (1), it compares the linear speed of the ski (1) with the critical and active threshold, when said linear speed reaches or exceeds said threshold, the device for triggering the deployment of the inflatable envelope of said vest. 9 - safety inflation vest according to claim 8, characterized in that the electronic card is paired with the proximity sensor (11) of each set shoe (3) - ski (1).